Thaw allows game to go ahead

A great tackling performance

Written by Richard Staniforth
Checked by Gaz Morgan

The thaw came in time to allow our game against Dinnington to go ahead.

We arrived at a misty Kelham Road to the sight of green grass and a large Dinnington team. Their forwards looked big and so did some of the backs, who we later found out were actually forwards! It was a day when our tackling was going to have to be spot on.

We weren’t to be disappointed

The game started with a lot of forward drives by both sides. Albeit we were a little bit slow at the rucks, our tackling was first class. In particularly from Johno and Jake B. Eventually we moved into their 22 and Matthew spotted a gap and slipped his way in from 15 meters.

More great tackling from the forwards – Jacob leading the way this time, kept Dinnington at bay. Eventually from a quick tap penalty the ball was passed out to Ben T who threw a great dummy on the 22 and went over unopposed.

The game then turned into a forward battle with great drives from both sides, with equally as good defence. This time it was Oscar making good tackles. Ben T managed to relieve the pressure with a good kick downfield. From the resulting restart our quick defensive line speed saw Max nearly make a great interception, but he couldn’t quite keep hold of the ball on his fingertips!

We continued to attack and Matthew was stopped by a great tackle. Then our fast defensive line did pay dividends as Dinnington’s fly half dropped the ball under pressure allowing William S to deftly gather the ball and run over from the 22.

A great back move, with simple passing, allowed Declan to show his pace and power and finish off from the 10 meter line.

Dinnington though didn’t give up and kept coming back at us. The last 5 minutes of the half saw us defending a number of forward drives on our line. Ethan put in 2 great tackles as their big lads got up a head of steam.

The half finished 4 – 0, but credit really goes to the forwards and the great defensive effort they put in when Dinnington attacked us.

We started quickly in the second half with two tries from wingers Declan and George, both with strong powerful runs. It was good in particular to see George back in the side after his return from a 7 week lay -off due to injury.

Ethan then put in a straight and powerful run which saw him crash over, for a well-deserved try.

Then the best try of the game. The ball was moved down the back line. Matthew coming in from full back was pushed towards the touch line, but using his rugby brain, managed to put a great inside pass to George who was running the perfect line form the wing. There was no stopping him and we were 8 -0 with 20 minutes to go

Dinnington to their credit never let their heads drop and kept putting us under a lot of pressure. We started to give away silly penalties, in particular for high tackles and entering the rucks from the side. Dinnington then after a number of forward drives eventually powered over in the corner for a well-deserved try.

With their tails up they still kept coming back at us and only a couple of great tackles from Matthew, now playing at full back, stopped them scoring again.

The forwards then did a great job in stopping a forward drive, in particular Johno who put in a fantastic tackle, and the ball was held up over our line. The forwards cheered as if they had scored a try!

Eventually we moved back down the field and the game was finished with two more tries. One from Ethan from a straight powerful run and then Declan finishing off a backline move.

Final score 10 -1

The result did not really do Dinnington justice. They battled hard all game, never let their heads drop and it was only some great tackling by Newark that made the difference. Another day it could very easily have been a different story

MOTM could have gone to any of the forwards, but was awarded to Johno for the fantastic tackling display he put in. Thoroughly deserved.